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The Gloucester-based company had sold 90 to Ultra Electronics and 40 to BMW, the spokesman said.

He insisted that the council knew about the deal and defended it by saying that Bennetts did not receive any money from the council for running the park and ride. Its only income came from motorists using the bus or buying the permits.

He said the permit worked out at about £2.50 per day for the workers and added: “We receive not a single penny from the Government or Gloucestershire County Council to run the park and ride.

“Over the past seven years, we have made the council aware that the park and ride has been misused by local companies.”

He said BMW had approached Bennetts, asking for 100 spaces because it did not have enough parking spaces for many of its employees at its new site off the A40. Bennetts felt that was too many and suggested 50 would be okay, before more recently handing out the lower number of 40 permits.

The deal with the companies is controversial as some motorists have complained about not being able to use the park ride due to there often being a lack of available spaces.

But the Bennetts’ spokesman added: “We need to get money from the site to carry on running it with no cost to the tax payer.”

He estimated that between 100 and 150 drivers per day had been using the site as a free car park and admitted the situation was “a bit of a mess”.

The council had been aware of the issue for years, he insisted.

But a spokesman for the council denied that it knew about Bennett’s arrangement with the two companies and said it did not approve of it.

He said a new barrier system, to force anyone not paying for the bus to pay to park at the site, would be introduced “in the coming months”.

He added that the council was now aware that GCHQ workers were also parking for free at the park and ride.

Philip Williams, the council’s lead commissioner for community infrastructure, said the charge to be made would be “enough to make people think twice about parking there”.

He added: “We are taking this very seriously. We won’t let this become a problem that persists.”

A spokesman for BMW confirmed that it had an agreement in place with Bennetts but declined to comment on whether that was morally right or not.

The new Cotswold BMW site in Cheltenham

He said the company was due to have talks with the council over the matter.

The park and ride, which takes people to and from Cheltenham town centre to try to ease parking congestion there, opened in October 1997.

One relation of a BMW employee said she was annoyed to discover that she had been paying £20 a month for the park and ride travel permit when many other people were parking there for free. He said she may get another job if she found she had nowhere to park near the site.

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A GCHQ spokesperson said: “GCHQ has taken a range of steps in consultation with the council to minimise the impact on the local community and would be disappointed to find any member of the work force failing to observe the spirit of the park and ride facilities across Cheltenham.”

Gloucestershire Live has contacted Ultra Electronics but it has yet to respond.